Blood found on borrowed car in missing girl case

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Blood was found inside a car borrowed by a Las Vegas Strip card dealer last seen with a missing 10-year-old girl and later arrested in the razor blade slashing of a co-worker at the posh Bellagio resort, a prosecutor said Friday.

Brenda Stokes Wilson was identified in court Friday as the prime suspect in the slaying.

"It's no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris," prosecutor Robert Daskas said as he convinced Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure to increase Wilson's bail from $60,000 to $600,000 pending the filing of kidnapping and murder charges.

Later Friday, Clark County coroner's officials identified the body found Thursday as that of the girl, Jade Morris. Officials say she died of multiple stab wounds.

The girl was last seen Dec. 21 with Wilson, who'd picked her up to go Christmas shopping. Family members say Jade had a close relationship with Wilson, who used to date her father.

Wilson, 50, was arrested later that night after she was wrestled to the ground with razors in each hand following a face-slashing attack on a female co-worker, Joyce Rhone, at the Bellagio.

She appeared in court in that case Friday, when a judge raised her bail to $600,000.

Wilson has been jailed on felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison. Police said she has offered no help in the search for the missing girl. Murder and kidnapping charges could get her life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

Wilson stood in court flanked by eight police officers as her lawyer, Tony Liker, clutching a Bible and a copy of the charging documents, asked the judge to postpone arraignment until Wednesday to give him time to meet with Wilson.

Liker declined comment outside court.

Police went public with the search for Jade Morris on Christmas Day, and the case received increasing attention after the relationship between the girl and Wilson became known. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson watched the proceedings in court Friday and called the case important for the community.

Wilson, who had been identified by police and prosecutors as Brenda Stokes, told the judge Friday that her full name was Brenda Stokes Wilson.